Top tens for 2010: Svein Egil Hatlevik (Zweizz)

I Was a King confirm UK 7"

I Was a King will release their debut UK 7" via Sonic Cathedral on November 16. The a-side features the tune "Norman Bleik" while the flip has a cover of "She's my best friend" by Velvet Underground.

Ström presents: 'Musiken vi hatar'

Håkan Lidbo and the folks behind Swedish Radio electronic music program Ström have put together a collection of new music for national mourning, sent music into space and now they've gathered a crew of some of Sweden's finest electronic artists to cover the music they hate. Instead of paraphrasing, let's cut + paste:

In 2009, the radio show Ström gave an assignment to Swedish artists that make electronic music.; to make an interpretation of a song that they really do not like, sometimes even hate. The purpose was some sort of musical regression therapy. By making a cover of a song they dislike and make it into their own, the artists could get in touch with their musical origin, the place in their soul where the creativitiy is coming from. And by doing so, get a deeper understanding of themselves as humans - and as artists. The influential songs are easy to point out, and easy to cover, but the hated ones can be shameful and hard to confront. Sometimes those can partly explain why the artist sound the way he or she does.

The result: "Musiken vi hatar", due out June 10. Tracklist:

01. Fever Ray - Here Before (Vashti Bunyan)
02. Roos - Polly (Nirvana)
03. Andreas Tilliander - Dub that she wants/All That She Wants (Ace Of Base)
04. Familjen - Mine Øyne De Ska Se (Lis Sørensen)
05. Little Jinder - Femme Fatale (Velvet Underground)
06. Cilihili & DaBook - Orinoco Flow (Enya)
07. Ebb - Trash (Suede)
08. Trig - Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice)
09. Lisa Nordström - LIke To Get To Know You Well (Howard Jones)
10. Håkan Lidbo - Born In The USA (Bruce Springsteen)
11. Alf Tumble - Klubbland (Håkan Hellström)
12. Vaerelsen - Diska!/Washing Up (Tomas Andersson)
13. Den Finska Nikotintanten - 122 Hours Of Fear (The Screamers)
14. Roll the Dice - Motorcycle Emptiness (Manic Street Preachers)

See the comments area for a track-by-track breakdown of why each artist chose the song they did.

Brine - Story vs plot
(Harbour, Sea)

The 90s art-rock movement is very much alive on "Story vs plot". As if by mere accident, harmony arises from the rattling of guitars and the deep moan of the bass on opener "Bashful". The half-spoken, half-sung vocal style finds an appropriate home in this medium of musical expression as the drums tirelessly beat on. Names like Sonic Youth and Pavement easily slip off the tongue when trying to describe what has slipped out of the stereo speakers, though there's also a Pixies-like playfulness and a Velvet Underground drive. Sebadoh wouldn't sound too oddly placed were one of their tracks to precede or follow a Brine composition on a mixtape. "Make it to Berlin" shatters much of these preconceptions however, sounding far more like something that would have come out of Britain in the 90s than from the other side of the Atlantic, and so Blur and the radio-friendly tracks of Elastica spring to mind. And this balancing game plays out beautifully as the record continues. "A high wire walking" and "Bathtub revisited" are among the standouts on a quality album, although the breakdown/ending of "Mirrors" may take top prize -- an organic building of guitar lines and drums that eventually blurs into a wave that crashes and breaks. An album that celebrates the possibilities of rock music as much as the 90s scene it was birthed from, "Story vs plot" is very much worth tracking down.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Envelopes - Here comes the wind
(Brille)

Despite them paraphrasing Bonnie Tyler, sometimes cramming one to many ideas into a song, and a some general "wackiness", Envelopes are utterly charming. I love their first album, so it's great to hear that they've managed to get even better for their second one. They've got magnificent melodies, alternating boy/girl vocals (something that all bands would be better off with, as far as I'm concerned), original lyrics and they sound a bit like a mix between Beat Happening, Violent Femmes and Velvet Underground, but without coming across as dated (they sound very 2008, in a good way). I've been listening to this album now constantly for many weeks, and my love for it just grows day by day. "Here comes the wind" is a super fresh and varied album that deserves to be heard by everyone, and it makes me hope for a long and productive career from Envelopes.
- Simon Tagestam

Top 10s for 2007: Daggan (Novoton)

Live report: Housewife Lovers + Death By Kite @ IAT! Clubnight #3, Debaser, Malmö 11/08/07

King Midas - Sorry
(Universal)

Oslo's King Midas are seasoned pros in the music world, "Sorry" is their 14th release (including both singles as well as albums). The band has been through their up and downs, but have succeeded in holding it down, and that fact should not go unnoticed. "Sorry" has a mischievous air to it, not unlike a typical Robyn Hitchcock record, or a dark, sinful track from the Velvet Underground. Like the melancholy, angry, edgy themes we've heard from the aforementioned artists, King Midas proves it can still be done right, with of course, more synths. Standout tracks include "Honky tonk symphony", "Westend boys" and "Walk away, ringo". There's no reason why this record should not be in someone's top ten list for this year.
- Paul Bredenberg

Sublime Exile has a new single from anonymous duo Fake performing a cover of Velvet Underground's classic "I'm waiting for the man", totally sucking out all of the heroin vibe: http://www.subexile.com/

[ingenting] - Mycket väsen för ingenting
(Labrador)

This is the second album from [ingenting], and they still sound a bit like Kent and a lot like Velvet Underground (the guitar riffs!). The Swedish press hasn't really taken to this album, something I don't really understand since these songs are highly infectious and the more I listen to them, the more I want to go on a road trip with them playing on the stereo. The lyrics are wonderful and the music's ace. [ingenting] are terrific at doing slower ballad-type of songs ("Bergochdalbanan" being my favourite 'slow song' on here), but what they really do best is fast and catchy (such as "Punkdrömmar", "Suzanne", "Släpp in solen" – listened a lot to this last summer, and "Hollywood dreams", the latter being the strongest track on "Mycket väsen för ingenting"). This is Swedish indie at its very best, even if [ingenting] have taken some obvious references points to create their sound like The Hives, instead of being more original like someone such as The Knife.
- Simon Tagestam